When John Panghulan and Nate Ferrer decided to open a poke restaurant in Jacksonville, they flew to Hawaii and spent five days learning how the islands actually make it. The result is Makai, now serving what the co-owners call authentic Hawaiian poke in Five Points.
Makai means “toward the sea” in Hawaiian, Panghulan said.
“They call it the mainland-style because the way they do it here, it is like a salad bowl, where you have your rice and then you flavor your fish with some type of sauce,” he said. “But then you add the mangoes, avocados, carrots and cucumbers, which in reality they do not do that in Hawaii.”
Makai’s poke is a bowl of warm rice topped with seasoned, sushi-grade salmon or ahi tuna.
A single-fish bowl costs $16; the salmon-and-tuna combination is $18.
The restaurant at 1661 Riverside Ave., Suite 127, is across from a UPS Store, H&R Block and Starbucks.
Panghulan and Ferrer are part of the GSD Group, which also owns the recently opened Cafecito coffee shop at 2695 Post St.
Both men are from the Philippines and have lived in Jacksonville for about 10 years. They share an interest in Hawaiian culture, Panghulan said, and he travels there every couple of years. Last year the pair went to Hawaii, where Ferrer ran the Honolulu Marathon and the two studied Hawaiian-style poke.
At one spot, they found a traditional style that they liked and peppered the owner with questions.
“We just went at it. We told him we were planning on opening a poke spot in Florida, and he basically said, ‘You guys are opening on the other side of the world. I’m gonna give you any tips that I can,’” Panghulan said.
The menu is simple: poke and musubi. The poke can be garnished with seaweed salad, sliced green onion, pickled ginger, crispy rice pearls, furikake (a Japanese seasoning blend of savory, sweet and salty flavors) and tobiko (fish roe).
Musubi, another Hawaiian favorite, is a handheld item: sticky rice topped with a seasoned slice of Spam and bound with a wide strip of sushi seaweed.
It also can be made with tuna or salmon. Musubi is $4 to $5.
They have created their own sauce recipes ranging from sweet to spicy to hot.
Drinks include fresh pineapple juice, lilikoi lemonade (lilikoi is the Hawaiian word for passion fruit) and Hawaiian Sun soft drinks.
Makai opened June 4 with a staff of nine. The build-out cost about $80,000. Panghulan said that although the 1,200-square-foot space previously housed Poke & Bubbles, the owners remodeled the interior for fast-casual service. It seats 30.
The grand opening is July 14, when hours will run 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. During the soft-opening stage, Makai has opened at 11 a.m. but closed before 5 p.m. because it keeps selling out.
The first 100 customers at the grand opening will receive a free musubi.